i thought some of us could share how we save money and cut corners to make it 'til next pay day. i myself have a few things that i do to bring my cost of living down.
like:

1. take 5 minute showers
2. make my lunch at home (for work)
3. save all my loose change - in 4 month increments - roll it up & bank it
4. use candles after 8:00pm (unless i'm reading - then lights go out at 9:00pm)
5. wash dishes by hand
6. buy (certain) generic products
7. reuse plastic shopping bags (also use them to line my smaller trash recepticles)
8. re-use plastic water bottles (put my juice in them to take to work)
9. i cook up to three meals at a time (refrigerate - then nuke - saves me time and energy cost)
10.my bank automatically credits my savings account by putting in $5.00 for every $100.00 i deposit. will increase amount upon my request.

well, here a just a few of the ways i save. if you have ways that you save please add your info.
in these tough times we can all use some money saving ideas.

oh, and when it's cold in my place and i don't want to turn on the heat, i put on a prince track and dance until i no longer feel the cold.

no cable tv, God i love pbs analog!

#8 is tricky, be careful. Most bottles are made to be used ONCE. Carcinogens can be released with reuse. Buy a bottle made for resuse. Also, buying a Brita filter saves on bottled water. It's all I use, and have for years.

There is a cook book out there that guides you through a process (it's about 7 hours) to cook enough meals for 30 days. They are dinners only, but they're also geared for a family of four, so some of them could be broken up into smaller portions (like lasagna cut up after it's baked) for lunches, etc. It tells you your whole shopping list, and exactly what containers you'd need to store everything. They recipes are really good too. It's a whole day process, but well worth NOT cooking for a month for dinner. It's a huge money saver too, because you're not making runs to the store for dinner every few days or something.

I've not stuck to the book's plan, but have sat down and planned out 14 or 21 dinner meals, bought the stuff, cooked it up, and frozen it. I don't do it as often as I'd like, but when I do, it's fucking heaven. Quick meals, and no big runs to the store. I'm a light breakfast eater, and lunch can vary. But again...30 meals made for a family a four, divided up....lasts a long time! You just need the freezer space of course.

Of course the day you do all the cooking is Order Out night. haha I also take reusable bags to the store. Most stores will give you a 5 cent credit for each reusable bag you use, so money is money.

As far as the shower thing: Get a shower head w/ a shut off valve. You can stop the water flow in while soaping up or something.

For the environment partly, I wash in cold, except bed sheets. I never put my shirts in the dryer, because they shrink up. I hang them up and put a fan on them overnight, or just throughout the day. They dry just as quickly, no shrinkage, and less wear and tear from being in a hot dryer.

I also buy generic on most things. There are a few things, like coffee, and strawberry preserves and some salad dressings, that I buy name brand. I also buy in bulk on things like mustard, mayo, and Frank's Hot Sauce. It's just a better buy and goes SO much longer. Franks is like $2 for a 5 or 6oz bottle. A 3 quart size is only $4.65. Twice the price, and a gazillion times the volume.

Anywhere you need to be, that's two miles or under - walk!

It's great now here price tags in supermarkets have price per 100g on the shelf so you can really compare and get best deals.

We buy pretty much generic on most things and buy meat and vegies from an asian grocer. Since there are 5 of us we get most things bulk pack.

Eating vegetarian 3-4 nights per week is a huge cost saver, as is not buying alcohol often.

I walk kids to school, bath them all together at once, plan my errands so I take the car out only once every few days.

Second hand clothes and school uniforms for the kids (they couldn't care less)

Returning dvds and library books on time (no late fees)
making good use of the library!

Avoiding fines by parking legally and not speeding

I don't have a cell phone

cable internet and home phone bundled with unlimited national calls and calls to cells included

washing clothes when needed - esp kids they can get a few days wear out of a t-shirt and shorts

buy furniture from IKEA!

Aldi!

I've always been like this

^^^ COUPONS COUPONS COUPONS

My electric bill went up 33% last month and I'm trying to figure out how/why. So I've been super conscious about turning everthing off that's not in use.

Other than that, the number one thing I do to save money is I don't have a car. No car payment, no insurance, no oil changes, no maintenance fees. I have an unlimited use transit pass that I get through my work. It costs $33 every 2 weeks, but it comes out of my paycheck before taxes so it works out to be less than that even. I give friends gas money or buy them lunch if they are regularly carting me around for stuff (like when I needed help when I was moving this year) butother than that, my transit costs are SO cheap!

I haven't had cable for about 10 years, but I'm about to change that as I just bought a fancy new tv and I want the hi-def.

I'm shit at saving money. I just can't do it.

Edit - can't type.
[Edited 1/29/10 4:32am]

ernestsewell said:

which are available in countries like USA I believe I've heard about them on the org and on Oprah.

oh and on hot days, go hang out at the mall and enjoy THEIR air conditioning, but be strong no buying stuff just because it's THERE

Get rid of credit card debt as soon as you possibly can. I finally managed to pay mine off by transfering to a low interest card and not buying the latest toy that I really did not need.

Buy in season vegetables - they are at their cheapest and at their most delicious.

Soup!

Give up smoking - drink less.

Do the $20 test. Limit your grocery shop for a week to only $20 for everything and use up things from your freezer or canned goods. Of course you won't be able to do it every week but now and then it's quite a good challenge to plan and use up what you already have.

no more prozzies.

mynameisnotsusan said:

definitely, if you are always going to be tempted to use it and can't pay off in full each month

we are lucky enough to be able to be able to pay each month interest free with direct debit, and we use the credit card for every purchase that doesn't incur a charge. The reward points give us a $50 gift card from K-Mart each month (NB our K-Marts are more like your Walmarts in size and product range).

I cut my thermostat down to 62 degrees, put on extra layers of clothing and use a small heater in my master bedroom where I spend most of my time. My downstairs is all hardwood flooring which is cold as the dickens. Even the cats snuggle together in my bedroom.

ZombieKitten said:[quote]

mynameisnotsusan said:

I had a teacher in school, 25 years ago, that always sent his full payment in the same week he charged something. He NEVER faced interest charges, and always had immaculate credit.

Store credit cards, like a Macy's Card or even a Target charge, can REALLY negatively effect your credit. Don't get them, EVER.

CarrieMpls said:

If I was still in Metaire/New Orleans, I would still be catching the bus & streetcar. I would only use my (used) car on weekends.
[Edited 1/30/10 11:22am]

-- @ my fellow USA citizens...Apply for a food stamp card.
[Edited 1/30/10 11:26am]

Crack hos.

2freaky4church1 said:

TonyVanDam said:

It's interesting you mention that. I read recently that over 80% of people in New York state that use EBT, have jobs, and simply use EBT to supplement their food buying. I don't think it's such a bad thing, especially in these times (which won't last of course). Families of 3 or 4 or 5 people need that extra help. We pay taxes into it, so why not take advantage of it for a while. I think a lot of people view people on EBT quite differently than they actually are, ya know?

I don't

kimrachell said:

That is hard...when I get my own place...I want to save. I might want to let go cable tv.

1. eat less...drink water, buy white bread and eat PB & J for breakfast and lunch every day. Rice and beans or mac and cheese for dinner.
2. reuse those plastic Ziploc bags.

3. No salons.

1: Gas up the car at the 1/2 full mark
2: Use Coupons
3: Find a hobby that you like to do and see if you generate profit from it; put the money from profit in a separate savings account
4: Use condoms
5: Only buy lean meats from the grocery store and whole wheat starches (Bread and rice), leave the snacks, chips, and other bad stuff in the store.
6: Use plastic grocery bags as trash bags in bathrooms
7: Go to somebody else's house to eat dinner sometimes.

It is not expensive to eat in the USA.. if all fails and you don't have money to eat you can always go to the local bakery at the end of the day and ask them for food in exchange to clean up, you may even get left over food that they plan to throw out anyway.

During my school days I always found work in restaurant because they offer free meals.

Beans and rice, PB&J, Pot Pies, coupons, dress in layers and no more HBO

I make everything from scratch. It saves a ton of money.

We canceled HBO, Showtime and other extras.

I color my hair at home now. That saves about $100 every 2-3 months.

I check the supermarket circulars online and see what's on sale where, and I only buy meats from the Mexican meat market around the corner. Their prices are sometimes half what the supermarket charges.

missfee said:

x 3 - I could have saved so much money!!!

PunkMistress said:

same! I made an awesome ranch dressing the other day (they haven't actually sold that here in our supermarkets until just recently and we saw it on the shelf for the first time and WANTED some so I went home and made it ) it was probably way nicer than store-bought and less crap in it